"The heart of her husband trusts in her..."



Mark and I met in 2004 on a missions trip to South Dakota with our church's youth group - a trip neither of us had planned or initially wanted to go on - but God had other plans for us. I had just finished my freshman year of high school and Mark his sophomore year. We became friends almost instantly and as our friendship grew over the years so did our attraction and admiration for each other. I can honestly say I knew I wanted to marry Mark when I was 16. Mark, on the other hand, was much better at hiding his feelings and I always questioned how he felt about me. I later learned that he purposely tried to hide his feelings in order to respect my parents rules and protect my heart as his sister in Christ. Because of God's leading in our lives and through the protection of our parents, we stayed "just friends" until my first year of college. We did this because we believe it is best to wait until you're ready to consider marriage before entering a romantic relationship. 


Even though we didn't date, we did get to spend a few high school proms together as friends along side groups of friends. : )


After I graduated high school in 2007 I was beginning to be frustrated with Mark's apparent lack of interest. He seemed to make subtle comments one minute that made it seemed like he was interested and in the next left me questioning whether it was all in my imagination. That whole summer our friendship was fragile as we seemed to be teetering on the edge or friendship and something more. We seemed to argue over everything and nothing. Looking back now we realize it was because there was so much we wanted to express but so much we were holding back. I was highly at fault, expecting so much of Mark when all he was trying to do was respect me and parents. Unfortunately this tension led to a falling out between us at one of our mutual friends weddings. We said hurtful things to one another and my heart was broken by the end of the night. I cried myself to sleep that night, afraid all of my dreams had suddenly disappeared. We barely spoke from August until December. I wondered what God had planned for me. Ever since I was 16 I had thought that God had revealed to me my future husband in Mark and that all I needed to do was wait. Because I grew impatient in waiting, and expected more of Mark then I should have, I was suddenly not even on friendly terms with him. Little did I know that Mark was feeling the same way I was -confused and unsure about how to proceed.

One of my favorite pieces of Mark and I's relationship is the way God worked in our lives during this time of uncertainty. Neither of us knew what would be coming next and we had no choice but to lay down all of our hopes and dreams over to the One who had placed those dreams inside of us both. There, from the place of surrender, God began to slowly restore our friendship...

In the spring of 2008 we found ourselves taking a college Economics class together. I was beginning to find myself falling for the same Mark that I had always loved but I was getting a little frustrated wondering if we would only ever "just be friends" or if he was feeling the same way about me that I was about him. I later learned he had been praying about our relationship for the past several years and even more over the recent months and was finally feeling God giving him the okay to pursue me. That March he asked my dad permission to begin a relationship with me with the intentions of getting married one day because I was the only girl he had ever wanted to marry.
The night of our engagement: June 18th, 2011.
We were together for a total of 4 years before we got married this past May. 3 years of courtship and 1 year of engagement. We've been best friends for 8 years. I am amazed when I look back at the way God has worked in our lives since we met in 2004. How good He was to reveal to me my future husband when I was only 16. How faithful he was to restore my dreams. I love Mark and I's love story and while there are many details not shared here, I hope we can bare witness to the way God will give you the desires of your heart when you surrender to him.
Praying together on our wedding day before the ceremony.

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